More Than Just Another Zoom Meeting: Utilizing Software Programs to Enhance Online Interprofessional Education

Learning Objectives

• Describe challenges to student engagement and interaction with virtual interprofessional education
• Explore ways that utilizing software programs including Allo, Padlet and Google Slides/Forms can address these challenges
• Identify how these programs can be used to enhance participants’ own virtual IPE curricula

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated a shift of interprofessional education to virtual platforms. Zoom, Microsoft Teams, WebEx and other platforms allowed for synchronous coexistence, however, did not inherently promote communication, interaction, or connection, all of which are essential for meaningful interprofessional education. Pulling from K-12 education and the business world, we incorporated different software programs which provided shared spaces for teams to work together. In this seminar, we will share our experiences using Allo (a remote visual workspace), Padlet (an online bulletin board/ digital wall) and Google Slides/Forms (a shared presentation and survey tool, respectively) and how they have contributed to increased student engagement, interactivity, and satisfaction.

The interactive seminar will begin with participants sharing their challenges with virtual IPE using a word cloud generator. We will use polling and Google Forms to survey participants on what software programs they have used. We will then review some functionalities in Zoom, such as “hide non-video participants” and “spotlight” which can be utilized to promote engagement on Zoom. Next, we will discuss three specific software programs that we have used successfully in our IPE sessions, Allo, Padlet and Google Slides/Forms, highlighting certain functionalities of each and how they can be utilized for different purposes. Participants will then have an opportunity to explore and interact with the programs and, using the chat function, brainstorm with one another about ways to incorporate the programs into their own IPE sessions. At the conclusion of the seminar, participants will share their take-aways on Padlet.

Seminar Outline

Time Activity

• 0:00-0:05 Introductions
• 0:05-0:10 Word cloud generator to share challenges to virtual IPE
• 0:10-0:15 Polling and Google Forms to survey use of online software programs
• 0:15-0:20 Zoom functionalities
• 0:20-0:30 Review of Allo, Padlet and Google Slides/Forms and use in current curriculum
• 0:30-0:50 Participants explore Allo, Padlet and Google Slides/Forms
• 0:50-1:00 Padlet for take-aways